


This is Where the Magic Happens

by RabbitDweeb



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Collegestuck, F/F, Humanstuck, Witches, Witchstuck, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-03
Updated: 2017-06-28
Packaged: 2018-09-28 00:29:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10059035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RabbitDweeb/pseuds/RabbitDweeb
Summary: College was always going to be a strange experience for Kanaya Maryam. She expected late classes, all nighters, the awkwardness of having to make new friends, and maybe, just maybe, a chance to get a girlfriend. What she did not expect however was to end up with a witch for a room-mate.





	1. Chapter 1

Kanaya wasn't exactly sure what to expect when she turned up at three past one in the morning to move into her dorm room. 

Probably a room-mate who had been fast asleep, already forming an irredeemable hatred towards her for waking her up. Maybe her room-mate staying up too late watching T.V or on the internet. Or in the worst case a room-mate who, having decided that Kanaya wasn't going to show up at all, was getting nasty with her boyfriend.

Definitely not a girl floating in a candle lit room while a monstrous heap of darkness thrashed in front of her. But that's just how these things worked Kanaya supposed. Always expect the unexpected.

She hadn't thought that she was going to be late at all. But Porrim was her only lift out to the city and somehow, resisting Kanaya's efforts to hide all phones in the immediate area, Kankri had managed to call her.

In most regards Porrim was an ideal sister. She knew how to cook, drive and clean. She also knew how to pick a lock, tattoo and jack a car, 'for emergencies' as she assured Kanaya. Her only real downfall wasn't even a proper negative. She was a sucker for a good cause. 

Kanaya vividly remembered summer breaks spent holding picket signs protesting bathroom bills and puppy farming in the streets, because when Porrim had turned to her, eyes wide, and explained that it was for a good cause Kanaya just couldn't refuse. Kanaya knew that these things were important. It was just that she couldn't bring herself to care as constantly as Porrim somehow managed to.

Kanaya's pantomimes of getting stabbed through the stomach repeatedly, accompanied with a set of very convincing gagging noises, did nothing to dissuade Porrim from taking the call. She just shooed her away, rolling her eyes and closing the door of her room behind her with a final sounding click.

Resigned to her fate Kanaya draped herself over the couch, fare welling her illustrious college career before it even began. She had just reached the conclusion that she would have to survive for the rest of her life on boxes of cheetos - oh the humanity, she didn't even like cheetos - when Porrim finally re-emerged from her room, wiping her usually immaculate hair out of her eyes. 

Kanaya sat bolt upright, eyeing the phone dangling from Porrim's hand suspiciously. Perhaps her college career lived on yet.

“Is he gone?” she stage whispered. 

Porrim lifted the phone to her ear. “What's that Kankri dear? Oh that was just Kanaya. Oh yes I'm sure that she would simply love to hear about the financial crisis of the state!”

She held the phone out to Kanaya. Kanaya's eyes widened to saucers. Oh god. She would not, could not, be trapped by one more Kankri Ted Talk. It had taken almost two hours the last time and even then she had only been able to escape by agreeing to sign a bundle of petitions and feigning a bad case of food poisoning .

She gingerly reached a hand out for the phone Porrim was offering her and spoke rapidly into it.

“Oh Kankri, it's been so long. This sounds like an enthralling topic, however I am running rather late and you wouldn't want to compromise a poor youth's education would you?” she practically exhaled the words in an effort to let them out before Kankri broke into his usual tirade.

She paused, waiting for a response. The dial tone beeped on the other end of the line.

Kanaya looked up in confusion, quickly turning to annoyance when she saw her older sister doubled over, trying to desperately hold in laughter.

Kanaya held the phone out to her. “You might want this back,” she said curtly. 

By the time they had gotten everything packed into Porrim's tiny silver car it was already getting dark. They had spent far too long trying to jam everything in, using school supplies and furniture like gigantic tetris blocks. In the end Kanaya had agreed to sacrifice a desk and chairs in the hopes that her room-mate had furniture to spare. Porrim assured her that she would be able to rope one of her friends into lending her a trailer to take everything up some time in the next week, but Kanaya couldn't shake a feeling of regret as she gazed at the furniture that she had picked out herself sitting by itself on the curb.

Shoved in between a box of tampons and bolts of fabric wasn't exactly how Kanaya had imagined the arrival into the next stage of her life, but she knew that if they tried to move anything to make room it would take hours to shove everything back into an arrangement that wasn't actively pinning any of their limbs underneath some of the heavier items. 

By the time that Porrim's car sputtered into the city's borders stars were shining in the sky, barely visible behind the sickly honey glow of light pollution.

They hadn't even had the chance to eat yet. Porrim hadn't mentioned anything about food. She kept shooting glances at Kanaya's hand which was rapidly tapping on the windowsill, producing a quiet tense beat. The clock on the dash glowed red, announcing that it was already 11.00.

Kanaya sat resolutely, determined to survive the drive without sustenance, until through the mess of stationary and books crowding her window she glimpsed the heavenly glowing arches of a McDonalds.

It was all down hill from there really. When being late, Kanaya reasoned, there is a cut-off point of about two, maybe three hours. She should have been on campus 10 hours ago. If she was going to be this late she might as well be lying-in-a-morgue-somewhere-woken-only-by-the-threat-of-actual-adult-responsibilities late.

So that was how Kanaya and Porrim ended up spending an extra hour and a half sitting on the stale smelling and vaguely sticky seats of a McDonalds on the outskirts of the roaring city. A kid with bags under his eyes large enough to hold the entirety of the corporation's finances sent them death glares whenever either of the sisters met his eyes.

“So Kanaya,” Porrim began, delicately picking gherkins out of her burger, “what are you hoping for in a room-mate?”

Kanaya frowned slightly, trying desperately to look as though she was only giving the idea serious thought now.

“I don't know,” she said wiping grease off her fingers onto her skirt automatically before glancing down in a panic to assess the state of the fabric. “Someone nice I suppose. It would be helpful if she was quiet.”

She rubbed at the stain she had left on her skirt, only succeeding in making it worse. She knelt closer to the stain rubbing it frantically.

“And cute.” Porrim said with a grin.

Kanaya's head whipped up with a heavy clunk into the underside of their table. She emerged rubbing it gingerly.

“I think that would be more of a distraction than anything really.” she mumbled blushing.

It wasn't that Kanaya didn't want to meet someone. She did, sort of desperately if she let herself think about it, which she rarely did. But a room-mate. That would be a constant distraction that she would have to deal with. 

It likely wouldn't matter anyway, her new room-mate probably wasn't even into girls. She was the only lesbian she knew in her home town. Present older sister excluded of course.

Porrim hummed thoughtfully. “Maybe you're right. Your room-mate. That would be quite a start. Best to stick to girls from off-campus.”

“Porrim, I'm hardly planning on kissing every girl that I see.” Kanaya answered tersely.

“You'll see. It's college.” Porrim said winking at her.

Kanaya frowned.

“No room-mates.” She said firmly.

“No room-mates.” Porrim repeated. “Unless they're attractive.”

As they left to head to the dorms the cashier visibly sighed in relief, fumbling to lock the doors behind them before they could change their minds. 

The dorms were close, only a few streets away. It was comforting to know that if she ever felt like taking a break from the campus lifestyle the familiar greasy food of Kanaya's home town was only minutes away.

As they squeezed themselves out of the car Kanaya gazed up at the grey cement buildings. They towered, alien and huge over her. She had been here for the freshman tour but at night the buildings looked as though they meant her harm. Dark windows loomed above her like dozens of gaping mouths.

She turned back to where Porrim was unpacking her things from the trunk. Kanaya picked up a small purple suitcase with little wheels attached to the bottom.

“Is it okay if I start taking things up to my room?” she asked. 

Best to get room-mate introductions out of the way without her older and slightly intimidating heavily tattooed sister hanging over her shoulder.

Porrim looked up. “Of course,” she said waving a hand, “you go on ahead. I'll catch up.”

Kanaya started walking, trying to scale things up to the mental map stored in her head. Her wheels squeaked loudly, echoing between the silent buildings.

She came to the right building and stepped inside. The empty halls felt surreal, as though everyone had left just before she got there. 

To her left was a staircase so Kanaya started up it, her suitcase thunking gently against each step. When she reached the fourth floor Kanaya was met with a long hallway. As she walked along Kanaya heard quiet music thumping from behind several closed doors, chatter from behind others. Even that was made intimidating by the setting. She counted doors until she eventually reached hers. Number 413.

She knocked gently but there was no response. Bracing for the worst she creaked the door open.

Before she could look into the room Kanaya's nostrils were assaulted with the sharp smell of rotting eggs. Her eyes watered. Blinking back tears she peered into the room.

It would have been dark if not for the for candles spotted across the furniture which had been pushed back into the edges of the room. In the space left behind there was a large circle drawn in what looked to be chalk. And within the circle something was moving. A black writhing mess with far too many teeth and eyes.

A girl floated, actually floated, just outside of the circle. Her short hair was whipping around her head as if pushed by an unseen breeze. A strange guttural chant was coming from her, far lower and deeper than what Kanaya would have thought was possible. The floor vibrated lightly, pulsating in time with the chant.

Kanaya made some kind of noise. A strange creaky squeak of panic.

The floating girl turned her head to face her, a smile on her black painted lips. Her eyes were entirely pupil.

“Hello,” the girl said softly, “you must be my new room-mate.”


	2. Chapter 2

Rose Lalonde wasn't exactly sure what she had expected from her new room-mate. Probably not someone who would arrive eleven hours late.

As such Rose reverted to the old Lalonde saying. When your room-mate hasn't arrived by midnight, why not engage in some dark magic. Alright, it may not have been so much an old saying as a justification from the top of her head, but it served its purpose. It wasn't like she would be able to practice as freely with a human room-mate anyway, if she ever arrived.

She had planned to bunk with Jade Harley, an internet friend and fellow witch. The two had agreed to find a shared house, somewhere far away enough from the city that no one would notice the occasional explosion or puff of brightly coloured smoke.

That plan had been fine, up until the moment that Jade had announced that she wanted 'the full college experience', and also that she was broke as hell. Sharing a room on campus wouldn't have been too bad either. There were always deterrence and silencing spells, but of course neither of them had realised that the room allocation was entirely random.

So now both witches were stuck with a human room-mate for the rest of the semester. Rose had been more worried about Jade's ability to keep her magic a secret than her own. Then again, this was before her entirely human and very concerned looking room-mate showed up to her summoning an eldritch horror at god knows what time in the morning. She was hoping to leave her magic undiscovered for a day at least.

But there she was. Said human room-mate, her mouth hanging open, standing in the doorway of their room.

In unexpected and dreadful situations manners often do wonders. Rose pasted a smile onto her face and turned to the girl. “Hello,” she said softly, sticking out a hand, “you must be my new room-mate.”

The other girl took a step forward to return the handshake, more out of habit than anything else Rose suspected. It was as the girl's foot crossed the threshold that Rose realised her mistake.

She watched in horror as her descending foot scattered the meticulously placed salt barrier that lined the edges of the room. The two girls clasped hands as the candles in the room flared, and the horror that Rose had summoned gave an ear-piercing shriek.

Rose felt the girl use their connected hands to roughly pull her towards her, and she was brought back to earth with a bruising and solid thud. She raised her head to complain, but felt a huge whooshing force fly so close to her that it scraped her scalp.

Then it was gone. Through the door and out onto the University campus.

Well that was one way to make a first impression.

Rose sat up, self-consciously smoothing her hair back into its uniform bob. At least her room-mate didn't look much better. She too had hit the floor in her efforts to get Rose out of the way. Her lipstick was smudged and her eyes were wide enough that Rose could see the whites all the way around the pupil.

Rose dusted herself off and held out a hand, this time to help her room-mate up. The other girl simply stared for a second before accepting it. When they were both standing eye to eye, well not eye to eye exactly, the other girl was several inches taller than her, Rose cleared her throat speaking in what she hoped passed for a calm voice.

“My name is Rose Lalonde. I assume that you're my room-mate? Although I wouldn't be surprised if you were a dorm co-ordinater considering the time of morning.”

The girl cleared her throat, having the decency to look at least a little embarrassed. “I- yes. I am.” she said in a voice a little shakier than Rose's, "Kanaya Maryam.”

Rose lifted her hand and clicked her fingers. With a small whoosh, all of the candles in the room went out. “Fire hazard.” she explained.

“Shouldn't you go and stop that thing?” Kanaya asked, twisting her hands together, looking entirely lost.

Rose sighed rubbing the crease between her eyebrows. “Probably.” 

She gave Kanaya a weak two-fingered salute before turning to the door. She was about to step out into the dark, intimidating, and frankly, freezing corridor, when Rose felt a tug at her elbow. Throwing a critical glance over her shoulder she was met with a very concerned and bedraggled looking Kanaya Maryam.

“Wait, wait just a minute.” She spluttered out. Her dark skin had gone pale and she looked vaguely sick. “How- how do you think that you’re going to be able to control that thing?”

Rose quirked an eyebrow. ‘I’m very good.” 

She wasn’t though. Apparently not good enough anyway. Not good enough to stop a human from crossing into her room during the middle of a summoning. But best not to mention that.

“Okay, but… is it safe?”

“Of course not.”

“Then why?” Kanaya asked, gesturing to the room around them in an all-encompassing question.

Rose sighed. She knew that her roommate was taking this news exceptionally well, considering. She hadn’t fainted or vomited. It didn’t look like she was going to go mad any time soon. But she was used to people who had grown up with magic. Who would understand that this wasn’t a matter of safety, that nothing was safe. That it was just testing the limits until something snapped.

“Because, I had nothing better to do on my Friday night.”

Kanaya let out a breathy laugh, just as a loud knock on the wall outside their room made them both jump violently. Rose crouched into a fighting stance, her actions smooth from years of training, and felt sparks rise under her skin, gathering in her fingertips.

It wasn’t a horror-terror that peeked around the door-frame though. It was a girl. An awfully attractive girl, Rose noted, feeling the sparks fade, only to be replaced by more metaphorical ones.

“Hello there,” the girl said, smiling as metal flashed from a pierced lip. “I’m Porrim. Porrim Maryam.”

“Rose Lalonde.” She said, returning the girl’s smile.

“I apologise for the inconvenience, we had some difficulties on the way here. I would like to get the rest of Kanaya’s furniture in place before I leave. However, I don’t suppose… Well since you’re already awake there isn’t the possibility that you could lend a hand?”

Wow, this girl’s eyes were sparkly.

“Of course,” Rose replied before she could consider the request any further.

“Wonderful!” Porrim replied, clasping her hands together. “I’ll head back down, I’m sure that Kanaya would be more than happy to show you the way to the car.”

As she left Rose turned back to Kanaya who was rubbing her eyes.

“She does that to everyone.”

“What?” Rose asked, thoroughly bewildered.

“She gets you to help, even if you have a thousand other things that need doing. It’s not her fault. It’s in her nature. Look, you go and find whatever the hell that thing was and I’ll find you an excuse. And I expect an explanation in the morning, but right now I can’t think about whatever just happened, okay?

Oh right, the horror-terror that was right now trawling through the campus. That was likely a priority.

“Thank you.” Rose replied, quickly gathering her wits. “That would be extremely helpful.”

With that she gave Kanaya one last look. The girl looked tired and confused, but it didn’t look like she would go rounding up the pitchforks any time soon, and for that Rose was exceedingly grateful. 

She opened her mouth to thank her, but decided against it and hurried down the stairs before her sister, who was definitely some kind of ethereal being, could reappear and get her to sign away the rest of her night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's the correct procedure when interrupting a demonic summoning? Probably not this. Also, yes Rose has a crush on Porrim because seriously who wouldn't?

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully I will be able to update this regularly if you guys are interested! Please leave me a comment or kudos to let me know what you think!


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